Blending budget shopping and astute scouting, the Rockies have benefited from the Rule V draft the past two years, plucking Luis Gonzalez and Marcos Carvajal.
Gonzalez, one of the top hitters in the Venezuelan winter league, will open spring training as the team’s starting second baseman. Carvajal, the youngest player in the majors much of last season, is expected to compete for a bullpen spot after showing flashes of potential.
Afraid of losing a prospect to the Rule V draft at next month’s winter meetings, the Rockies tweaked their roster Friday, adding Class-A pitcher Manuel Corpas and designating left-hander Randy Williams for assignment.
“We’d like to have Randy back, but it’s the first of many difficult (40-man roster) decisions we are going to have to make this winter. We didn’t want to risk Corpas getting away,” general manager Dan O’Dowd said of the right-handed reliever, who turns 23 on Dec. 3 and went 2-2 with a 3.78 ERA for Modesto.
Williams allowed just three of 24 runners to score after joining the Rockies as a waiver-wire claim. Williams, made expendable by the addition of left-hander Jaime Cerda from Kansas City, will be released Monday.
Other players in jeopardy include pitcher Jose Acevedo, second baseman Aaron Miles and outfielder Larry Bigbie.
The Rockies’ offseason priority remains a late-inning reliever, with Jose Mesa emerging as a top choice. They also have interest in veteran Chris Hammond, though they are more likely to add a left-hander through a trade. However, the price for the White Sox’s Damaso Marte and Twins’ J.C. Romero remains prohibitive.
Footnotes
The Rockies continue working on a multiyear deal for closer Brian Fuentes, rebuffing teams that have asked about him in trades. The Marlins inquired and have let it be known reliever Guillermo Mota and catcher Paul Lo Duca are available. The Rockies like Mota, who is a Dec. 20 non-tender candidate. The Marlins would have to eat a majority of Lo Duca’s remaining $12.5 million contract for the Rockies to consider a deal. … Former Heritage High School star Nate Field signed a minor-league contract with an invite to spring training. The reliever will make $345,000 if he makes the big-league team.
Troy E. Renck can be reached at 303-820-5447 or trenck@denverpost.com.
